Washboard.



"No. 650,566. Patented May 29, I900. T. S. PIERCE.

WASHBOARD.

Application filed Mar. 9, 1897. Renewed Apr. 25,1900.)

'(No Model.)

W a w m zrce.

NiTnn STATES THEODORE S. PlEROE, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO \VILLIAM M. GRAY, OF ROMEO, MICHIGAN.

WASHBOARD.

$PECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent 3T0. 650,566, dated IVIay 29, 1900.

Application filed March 9,1897. Renewed April 25, 1900. Serial No. l4;355. (N0 model.)

To (LIZ whom it may cancer-72 Be it known that I, THEODORE S. PIERCE, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in \Vashboards, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to washing-machines, and has for its objects, first, to provide improved means for rubbing the clothes tothoron ghly elfect the separation of the dirt from the clothes with the expenditure of but little labor and to combine therewith automatic means for feeding the soap to the clothes, and, second, to provide the machine with an improved receptacle for holding the washed clothes while they are drained.

To these ends my invention consists in the features and in the construction, arrangement, and combination of parts hereinafter described, and particularly pointed out in the claims following the description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, wherein-- Figure 1 is a front elevation of myimproved machine. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a Vertical sectional view. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the soap-box, and Fig. 5 is a detail view of the means for feeding the soap-box up to the rolls.

Referring to the drawings,the numeral 1 indicates the frame of the machine, consisting of two upright sides 2 2 and a top or crosspiece 3, constructed in manner similar to the ordinary and well-known washboard. J ournaled in the inner faces of the side pieces 2 of the frame are a plurality of rollers 4, which are arranged in the same straight plane to form a flat roller-bed. To the sides 2 of the frame and near the upper ends of the latter are pivoted arms 5, which are free to swing about their pivots 6 and are longitudinally slotted throughout the greater portions of their length, as at 7.

The numeral 8 indicates a reciprocating rubber, which is adapted to be reciprocated over the rollers 4 and between the sides 2, the bottom or under side of the rubber being grooved or corrugated, as at 9 and as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. To facilitate the movement of the rubber between the sides 2 and prevent it from binding, Ijournal in one end of the rubber antifriction-rollers 10,which have a.roller-bearing against one of the sides 2, and to the opposite end of the rubber I affix a spring 11, which has a yielding bearing against the adjacent side 2 of the frame. To the rubber are fixed uprights 12, to theouter ends of which is affixed a cross-bar 13, which forms a handle by means of which the rubher 8 may be reciprocated over the roller-bed. The ends of the cross-bar or handle 13 are re-' duced and project through the slots 7'inthe arms 5 and are provided with heads 14, which project beyond the outer sides of the arms 5 and prevent the latter from spreading apart. On the reduced ends of the handle 13 are arranged rollers 15, (shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1,) which travel in the slotted portions of the arms 5 and render easy the movement-of the handle therein. The sides 2 of the frame are preferably rabbeted or'recessed, as most clearly shown at 16, Fig. 2, for the reception of the arms 5, and to said sides are affixed springs 17, which bear against the under side of the arms and produce an upward pressure thereon. Coiled springs 18 are arranged on the pivsaid springs being fixed on its pivot. The pivoted arms 5 act as levers in pressing upon the springs 17. In the drawings the rubber 8 is the arms. The arms are pressed upward by the springs 17, and the spring 18 is placed so that its free end 21 presses neither up nor down upon the pins or projections 19 and 20 on the arms when the rubber is in the position shown. If the rubberis moved outward toward the free ends of the arms 5, the free ends of the arms are lowered and the point where the power is applied is carried outward, so that the arms 5 produce a greater pressure or leverage upon the springs 17, and the free ends of the springs 18 will now bear against the pins 19 and assist in supporting the same. If the rubber is pressed toward the pivoted ends of the arms, the leverage or pressure upon the spring 17 is decreased, so that it would require greater pressure or power to depress it. The free ends of the arms 5 are raised, which will cause the free ends of the springs 18 to come in contact with the pins ots 6 of the arms 5, the inner end of each of shown as being near the center of the slots in may be set in position to press downward upon the pins at all times, or they maybe set in position to press upward on the pins 19 at all times, or, preferably, the springs 18 could be placed so that when the rubber is in the position shown they would press upon neither of the pins, in which case said springs would have a tendency to'lift the free ends of the arms when the rubber had passed from the position shown toward the pivoted ends of the arms. In order to produce the results above referred to, all that is necessary is to so fasten the springs 19 to the pivots of the arms that the free ends may bear in either direction required or may bear first in one direction and then in the other, depending upon the position of the arms.

Arranged beneath the rollers 4 is a soapbox 22, adapted to receive and retain a cake of soap. Said box may be constructed of any suitable materialas, for example, of wire, perforated sheet metal, or the like-and its bottom is attached at its opposite ends to rods n3, which are arranged in tubular sheaths or guides 24:, fixed transversely to the sides 2 of the frame. Fixed on the ends of the rods 23 are knobs or handles 25, the shanks of which project through longitudinal slots 26 in the guides, and on the rods are arranged coiledsprings 27, which bear at one end against the bottoms of the guides and at the other end against the knobs or handles, and thus operate to lift the box-bottom toward the rollers 4t and keep the soap in contact with said 'rollers. The slots at their lower ends are deflected to one side, as at 28, so that by depressing the handles and turning them into the deflected portions of the slots the box-bottom may be held away from and out of contact with the rollers at.

A soap-holder is also arranged on the rubber 8. This holder may conveniently consist of a plurality of bent spring-arms 29, affixed at their ends in the upper side of the rubber, and said holder serves for holding an extra cake of soap, which may be used by the operator for soaping such parts of the clothing by hand as may be necessary.

Areceptacle 30 is also provided for holding the clothes after they have been washed and to permit the water to drain olf from them. This receptacle may be formed of any suitableperforated or pervious material and is preferably fastened at its bottom to a transverse rod 31, attached to the sides 2 of the frame and at its upper end to the upper end of the frame.

From i311} foregoing description the opera tion of my improved machine will'be readily understood. The machine is placed in a waslr tub containing hot water in the same manner as an ordinary washboard, and the clothes to be cleaned are spread over the rollers t beneath the reciprocating rubber. The rubber is then pressed down upon the clothes and reciprocated back and forth by its handle, effectively rubbing or scrubbing the clothes, and the latter are thoroughly and automatically soaped by the soap held inv contact with the rollers in the manner before described.

Having described my invention, what I claim is '1. In a washing-machine, the combination with aframe'having a rubbing-bed, of arms each pivoted at one end to said frame and having longitudinal ways, a reciprocating rubber arranged to travel in said ways in the pivoted arms, and springs arranged to exert an upward pressure on said arms, substantially as described.

2. In a washing-machine, the combination with a frame having a rubbing-bed, of arms each pivoted at one end to said frame and slotted longitudinally, a reciprocating rubber, a handle fixed to said rubber and projectin g at its opposite ends through said slots, heads on the ends of said handle operating to prevent the arms spreading apart and rollers arranged on the ends of said handle and hav ing a rolling bearing in the slots, substantially as described.

3. In a washing-machine, the combination with a frame having a rubbing-bed, of arms each pivoted at one end to said frame and provided with longitudinal ways, a reciprocating rubber arranged to travel in said ways, and coiled springs fixed at their inner ends on the pivots of the arms and at their free ends engaging said arms, substantially as described.

4. In a washing-machine, the combination with a frame having a roller-bed, and reciprocating rubber, of a soap-box constructed to hold a cake of soap, means for holding the soap in yielding contact with the under side of the roller-bed, and means for holding the soap and soap box out of contact with the roller-bed when the box is depressed, substantially as described.

5. In a washing-machine, the combination with a roller-bed, of a soap-receptacle arranged beneath the roller-bed, springs arranged to hold the receptacle containing the soap so as to normally keep the soap in contact with the rollers, and means for lowering THEODORE S. PIERCE. [L. s]

Witnesses:

EDWARD TAGGART.

CHRISTOPHE HONDELINK. 

